There is no doubt that 3D printing is coming to homes and schools in a huge way. It's inevitable.

But, 3D printers are just piles of parts without the apps and software that enables and empowers users to create the content to be printed. And, when it comes to software, that is to be easy to use for the widest audience, control structures and interface is everything. And, Hello Enjoy knows control structures and interface.

It was hard enough to find people that truly understood how to make 2D graphic design easy on a computer. 3D adds a lot more complexity to the task of creating tools that are easy to use. Carlos Ulloa and Libertad Aguilera have hit it just about perfectly for their application that allows users to design their own 3D flowers. It's a gorgeous application.

The images can be saved as.OBJ, I doubt that they would print well because they create such delicate features. But, that doesn't keep me from longing to see Hello Enjoy create an application specifically for creating unique works of abstract art that is suitable for printing. The almost unlimited ability to reshape, segment and twist should create some amazingly unique and beautiful work.

Come back later and I'll have some images to share. I'm using an Apple to compose this post. And, I am Apple challenged. But, as soon as I'm back home, I will upload some samples and talk more about the interface features that I love so much.

But, I definitely wanted to immediately let you know about this amazing app as soon as possible.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine's Day is a specialtime for sending those you appreciate a card, letter or some token of your appreciation. This year it is appropriate for me to send a Valentine Greeting to 3D Systems and the entire Cube/Cubify team. Beyond my immediate family, if there is a team that I admire more, I sure can't think of one. So, here goes...

Happy Valentine's Day

Cubify Team!

Thank you for all your efforts to design, build and support my favorite 3D printer. It is more than simply a machine.It has become an important part of my life, enabling me to realize long held dreams and ideas that less than a year ago I could only visualize in the recesses of my mind.

I think of you often, no matter what part you have played in continuing to make both the Cube and Cubify better. I am very thankful that you do what you do and care as you care.

Tom

It's very easy for me to embrace the Cube/Cubify Team. I am privileged to know some of them and to have interacted with others with questions and suggestions by email or phone. I have visited Rock Hill to see the Cube before it was released. I have visited the factory in Virginia and witnessed how much each one on the assembly line and at the pre-shipping testing station cares that you get the best Cube possible. Recently, I spent two days withseveral team membersat the Hagley Museum, in Wilmington, Delaware, watching and listening to them explain and demonstrate to parents and children how the Cube works. And, saw the look of awe in the faces of those children.

I have run my Cube day and night for months now. And, yes, I have had a cartridge or two give me the dreaded "Filament Flow Fail" and, early on, a few clogs here and there. But, on a scale of 1 to 100, I give my experience with the Cube a solid 99.9 and I doubt that any 3D printer could deliver anything more than that.

Equally importantly,is what it has done for me at an intellectual level. My creative skills have been sharpened and my imagination has been unleashed in ways that leave me in awe. I thought I was a creative person before the Cube came into my life. But, looking back, having ideas without a means to go anywhere with them, really stifled the creative process. The product that the Cube/Cubify team has brought us has changed all that.

So, again, no matter where you are located, or what part you play, Happy Valentine's Day 3D Systems and the entire Cubify Team. I love what you have done. I love what you are continuing to do. And, I love that you care as I know you care. :)

Saturday, February 9, 2013

One of the things that's nice about being a bit older is that you have some history to look back on to help put things into perspective.

Most people with even a remote interest in 3D printing probably don't remember the days of Heathkit, Allied Radio, Lafayette Radio and the early days of Radio Shack, then best known for parts and kits. Nor, do they remember that the earliest sound systems and computers came in the form of kits.

But, there is a lesson to be learned from this ancient history. And, that is that useful technologies often begin with hobbyists; but, don't really flourish until they begin to be delivered as fully assembled and finished consumer products. We are probably at the end of the maker-hobbyist domination of the 3D printer market and are rapidly entering the dawn of the consumer 3D printer phase with all the good things that follow such a transition.

Let me explain.

I remember, vividly, in the early 1970's sitting in the living room of a friend as he proudly displayed the HUGE set of speakers he had built. The cabinet was plywood with a maze of internal baffles to get the most out of the enormous woofers, mid-range and tweeter speakers all precisely arranged. It had taken hours upon hours to build and it was clear that he thought he had produced the ultimate in Hi-Fi (High Fidelity) reproduction. And, he probably had. He was justly proud, since he was probably one of a hand full that could boast such fine acoustics.

Today, however, that same level of sound quality can be had by virtually anyone. And, it doesn't require us to take up half the living room! It comes in packages as small as 4"x4". In fact, most automobiles probably offer better sound.

Like many in that period of time, I built things like mixers, amplifiers and even what pretended to be a computer. In both the audio and the computer worlds, I was there as the technology moved from the hobbyist stage to gaining wide acceptance in every facet of society. Both "Hi-Fi" and computer power are so widely used and appreciated that we almost take them for granted.Bridging the gap...

I mentioned Heathkit, Allied Radio and Lafayette Radio along with Radio Shack. It is significant to note that of these four companies offering kits to hobbyists, only Radio Shack remains. That is because Radio Shack, rather than resisting the inevitable market shift from hobbyist to consumer, embraced it. The first Tandy computer was envisioned to be a kit. But, fortunately, its primary designer convinced Radio Shack to release it as a fully built system named the TRS-80. Radio Shack had, thus, bridged the gap. As a company it had one foot in the electronic kit marketplace and with the other foot had stepped out of the kit builder space and into the domain of the average consumer. One no longer had to know how to solder to learn to use a computer.

3D Systems has done a remarkable thing in bridging the gap when it comes to 3D printing. First, they bridged the gap between the expensive high end 3D printing world that they already knew very well and put one foot into the hobbyist/builder market through their acquisition of some 3D kit manufacturers and a company called Desktop Factory, which was aiming to produce a small format 3D printer for under $5,000. But, then they took another step across an even greater gap with the design and release of the Cube 3D Printer, which is clearly the first 3D printer designed from the ground up to be purchased for the home by anyone, including those without any building skills.

The Case for the Case and the Cartridge

I once had the privilege, back in the early 1980's of working with not one; but, many very creative people. The genius that put together this incredibly innovative team was David Judd Nutting. I've already mentioned one of his books and will, in a future post, talk about another. But, one of the things that Dave writes about is product empathy.

The best way to describe product empathy is to say that it is the feeling most of us get when we see something like a favorite Corvette model or the Gull-Wing Mercedes. It's that intangible thing of beauty that makes some designers household names to the point where we look forward to their next new designs. It is what draws us to a favorite purse, pair of shoes or tea kettle. It's an emotional response that all great designs elicit.

As far back as 6 years ago, I know that it was just a matter of time before someone, somewhere would finally deliver a 3D printer design that had that quality of producing the level of product empathy to the point its appeal would go beyond the limits of the hobbyist market and take 3D printing to a whole new level of consumer acceptance.

I distinctly remember, on my visit to 3D Systems last February, saying, "That's it. That's what I've been waiting for." For the first time, I truly had product empathy for a 3D printer design and I knew that others would feel the same. For me, it was all about the design of the case and cartridge. It encapsulated the functionality and revolutionized the way 3D printers would be viewed by the public.

Again, there is precedence in history. Audio tape only became widely used when the cassette was introduced. Video tape only became accepted by consumers when the tape was put into a cartridge with the advent of the VHS recorders and camcorders. Without both the case and the cartridge, the Cube would have been just another 3D printer that happened to be a very good value.

While I have no way of knowing the numbers of Cube printers that have been sold, I do know that the readership of this blog was steadily increasing and suddenly surged with the introduction of the Next-Gen Cube last month. I'm assuming that the product empathy factor was raised even further by the steps that 3D Systems took to become the first 3D printer to be approved by UL for the home and children.Why is this important to the world.

As I have repeatedly said, for me, 3D printing is NOT about printing cheap plastic objects. It is about helping us to realize, in tangible form, what our minds visualize. It is, perhaps, the single most valuable tool I have ever encountered to increase creativity and actually build new brain connections in astounding ways. It is no accident that Virginia Tech named their 3D printing center the Dreams Lab and that the DreamVendor, a 3D printing kiosk is in non-stop demand.

By recognizing the importance of product empathy, whether they called it that or not, 3D Systems has done what Radio Shack did for computers in 1977... moving the availability of computing power from the kit builders to the rest of us. 3D Systems has, forever, opened the door to 3D printing for all of us. And, the result, I predict, will be an explosion of new levels of creativity in our young people and new products and opportunities that would never have been otherwise.

Ken Mammerella, a writer for the Wilmington News Journal started out his article on 3D printing with the words, "Tom Meeks cannot contain his praise for 3-D printing". He follows that with "Whitney Sample, a research design engineer at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, is equally effusive." And, then includes these words, "Jack Gillespie, director of the Center for Composite Materials at the
University of Delaware, believes 3-D printers promote education and
innovation for children. It “really gets them to be creative at very
early age,"

I am not alone in my belief that 3D printing will have significant impact on the creativity and lifelong outcomes of our children. And, I am very thankful that 3D Systems had the vision to look well beyond their comfort zone of business-to-business marketing and not only design a 3D printer that we could afford; but, one that had that magic ingredient... product empathy.

Blogs of Note

Personalizing Help

As my granddaughters grew up, they would search the racks of cups, etc. at places like Cracker Barrel, gift shops and toy stores to see if they could find an item with their name on it. They always came up empty. They could never find a personalized item.

3D printing has solved that problem in our family.

But, what if you don't have a 3D printer. software or time in which to create a personalized 3D item? In that case, I would like to help. Just send me a request and, if possible, I'll try to design the personalized item for you.

Any resulting design will be made available for you and others to download from the Cubify.Com store. Designs will be priced at the lowest current cost permitted on Cubify.com.